Social Psych (Units 6-7)

Attribution

Explanations for behavior.

Attribution Theory

Theory about how people explain the causes of behavior.

Personal Attribution

Causes of behavior that is due to the stable internal characteristics of a person’s ability or personality.

Situational Attribution

Causes of a behavior that are external to the person like luck or something about a task.

Covariation Theory

Describes what people do when explaining behavior they observe over time (over multiple instances) based on three types of information.

Consistency

Does this person usually act this way in the same situation?

High Consistency

Person usually acts this way in the same situation.

Low Consistency

Person usually does not act this way in the same situation.

Consensus

Do other people usually act this way in the same situation?

High Consensus

Other people usually act this way in the same situation.

Low Consensus

Other people usually do not act this way in the same situation.

Distinctiveness

Is there something distinctive/special about the current situation, or does this person usually act this way in other similar situations as well?

High Distinctiveness

There is something special about the current situation; person doesn’t usually act this way in other similar situations.

Low Distinctiveness

There is nothing special about the current situation; person usually acts this way in other similar situations.

Discounting Principle

If there are multiple potential causes of a behavior, we assign less weight to a particular cause because we don’t know the real cause.

Augmentation Principle

More weight is assigned to a particular cause of behavior if there are other causes that would normally produce the opposite behavior.

Correspondent Inference Theory

People infer from a behavior whether it corresponds to the person’s disposition. (We prefer personal attributions; situation attributions are made only if a personal attribution is not found).

Three Types of Information Used to Determine Correspondent Inference

Choice

Expectedness/Social Desirability

Consequences

Fundamental Attribution Error (Correspondence Bias)

Tendency to underestimate the effects of a situation on a person’s behavior and overestimate the effects of the person’s disposition.

Four Major Factors:

linguistic, perceptual, motivational, & cultural

Actor-Observer Bias

Tendency to make personal attributions for the behavior of others and situational attributions for ourselves.

Just World Hypothesis

The belief that people get what they deserve in life and deserve what they get.

Two-Step Model for Making Attribution

First step: Personal attribution (automatic).

Second step: We correct for situational information (controlled) needs motivation and ability.

Self-Serving Bias

Taking credit for success while blaming others for failures. In attribution terms; making personal attribution for success and situational attribution for failures.

Stereotypes

Schemas for an entire group of people; may be positive or negative (cognitive).

Prejudice

Negative feelings towards people based solely on their membership in certain groups (affective).

Discrimination

Behavior directed against people because of their membership in a particular group (behavioral).

Categorization

Happens automatically and helps simplify the world. Leads to “us” vs. “them” mentality.

In-group Favortism (In-group Bias)

Merely being categorized into a group leads one to favor other members of the in-group.

Out-Group Derogation

Negative treatment of the out-group or group we don’t belong to.

Social Identity Theory

Self-esteem = personal identity + social identities.

Out-Group Homogeneity Effect

Tendency to perceive more variability among members of our in-groups than our out-groups. (caused by difference in opportunities for learning and biases in memory and retrieval processes)

Illusory Correlations

Tendency to see a correlation between two variables when one doesn’t exist. (develops because of the co-occurrence of rare events)

Social Learning

We learn stereotypes and prejudice from our parents, peers, and from the general culture. (can create deeply-ingrained associations between groups and stereotypes, leading to automatic stereotyping)

Automatic Stereotyping

Because we are familiar with stereotypes, we are susceptible to automatic stereotyping regardless of our own prejudice level.

Factors Influencing Stereotyping and Prejudice

Lack of motivation or ability to control the use of stereotypes. (older adults have more difficulty with inhibition, and it makes them more likely to engage in stereotyping, even though they have the motivation to control stereotyping)

Overcoming Stereotypes

To overcome stereotypes we must have motivation and ability to reframe our thoughts because it is a controlled process.

Feeling-as-Information Model

When you’re in negative mood, you think more carefully and really less on stereotypes. In a positive mood, you tend to think more lazily and rely more on stereotypes.

Self-Esteem Threat

Can increase the use of negative stereotypes in order to make ourselves feel better. (power of the situation)

Realistic Conflict Theory

Competition for valuable but limited resources breed hostility and results in prejudice and discrimination. (competition can be real or imagined)

Implicit Bias

Stereotypes and prejudice against a group that affect our perception, behavior, decision-making in ways that are outside of our conscious awareness, intent, or control.

Aversive Racism

People have genuine intentions of being egalitarian, but nonetheless harbor unconscious negative feelings toward other racial groups.

Prejudice and discrimination manifest when the situation is ambiguous or when they can find an excuse to justify their behavior.

Microaggressions

Subtle insults and derogatory messages sent by people of the dominant culture who are unaware of the hidden meaning behind those messages.

Hostile Sexism

Negative stereotypes about and resentment towards women.

Benevolent Sexism

Positive stereotypes about and chivalrous feelings towards women. (portrays women as weak and portrays men as protectors)

Inspiration Porn

Objectifies disabled people for the benefit of non-disabled people. Implies being disabled is bad and low expectations for disabled people.

Subtyping

Members of the stereotyped group who don’t fit the stereotype are seen as “exceptions.” (allows people to continue to maintain their stereotypes, it doesn’t reduce them)

Stereotype Suppression

The more we try not to think about something, the more we think about it.

Stereotype Rebound Effect

Suppressing stereotypes ironically increases stereotypic thoughts. (does not occur for low prejudiced individuals, when it is not politically correct to stereotype or participants who take perspective of stereotyped target)

Reducing Stereptypes and Prejudice

Perspective Taking

Empathetic Mindset

Wise Feedback

Habit-Breaking Intervention

Detect - Know when stereotypic thoughts appear.

Reflect - Consider why stereotypic thoughts are appearing, in a nonjudgmental way.

Reject - Reject the stereotype by replacing it with a different thought, by considering individuating information, by imagining counter-stereotypical exemplars, etc.

Contact Hypothesis

The idea that contact between members of different groups will reduce prejudice, under certain conditions:

1. Mutual Interdependence

2. Sharing a Common Goal

3. Equal Status

4. Personal, One-on-One Interaction

5. Contact with Multiple Members of the Outgroup

6. Social Norms of Equality